Vehicle escape hatch operating mechanism



Aug. 28, 1951 Ry KERR 2,565,856

VEHICLE ESCAPE HATCH OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 2, 1949 Gktornegs Patented Aug. 28, 1951 VEHICLE ESCAPE HATCH CPEEATING MECHANIs-M 1 {Robert Kerr, Detroit, Mich.

Application September 2, 1949,'Serial No. 113,857

This invention relates to vehicle roof escape hatches, and in particular, to operating mechanism for such hatches.

Hitherto, many fatalities have occurred in highway accidents where passengers have been trapped inside a burning bus by the jamming of the regular and emergency doors. Escape hatches in the roofs of such vehicles have been hitherto proposed, some of them with automatic operating mechanism, but some of these mechanisms have been of doubtful value because of the possibility of their pivots or sliding surfaces locking by reason of rust or dirt, and by friction around pulleys or pivots. Certain such mechanism employing cables have also been subject to stretch in such cables and have required adjustment.

One object of the present invention is to provide an operating mechanism for a vehicle roof escape hatch which is substantially free from the possibility of not functioning in an emergency by reason of rust or dirt, and which will operate automatically to withdraw the latches from the hatch in response to the overturning of the vehicle, so that the hatch automatically drops oif by its own weight or can be easily pushed off, thereby permitting the persons inside the vehicle to escape through the hatch opening and avoid their being trapped inside the vehicle.

Another object is to provide an operating mechanism fory a vehicle roof escape hatch wherein the hatch is locked in the roof opening by means of oppositely movable bolts which are urged by springs into their unlatching positions but are held in their latching positions by a pendulum-operated device which swings into a bolt-releasing position if the vehicle turns over on its side.

Another object is to provide an operatingml mechanism for a vehicle roof escape hatch wherein the pendulum is mounted on one arm `of a T-shaped lever having rollers on the opposite ends of its cross bar engaging the bolts and temporarily preventing them from moving into their unlatching positions.

Another object is to provide an operating mechanism for a vehicle roof escape hatch of the foregoing character wherein the rollers engage detent notches or recesses in the ends of the latch bolts and are thus prevented from being Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a vehicle 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-21) roof escape hatch and its operating mechanism, according to one form of the invention, with the major portion of thev roof broken away to disclose the hatch mechanism more clearly;

Figure 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section taken along the line 2-2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a central vertical cross-section taken along the line 3--3 in Figure 1;and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a modification of the operating 4mechanism shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figure 1 shows portions of a vehicle roof I0 of a motor vehicle, such as a motorl bus, 'having an escape hatch, generally designated II, releasably held in position by automatically releasable locking mechanism, generally designated I2, to cover an opening I3 in the roof I0. The locking mechanism I2 includes a pair of keepers I4 secured as at I5 to theV roof I0, the keepers I4 being of L-shaped or angle cross-section having a flange I6 extending along the flange I1 surrounding the opening I3. The keeper ilange I6 has a recess I8 with an inclined wall I9 to provide a Wedging action. 'The roof opening flange I1 is provided With a gasket 20 of elastic deformable material, such as rubber or synthetic rubber, in order to seal the opening I 3 against the entrance of water, and the hatch I I is provided with a lip or flange 2| extending outside the flange I'I surrounding the roof opening I3.

Ccacting with the recesses I8 of the keepers I4 are two oppositely disposed U-shaped bolts or latch members 22 having wedge-shaped bars 23 coacting with the Wedging surfaces I9 to wedge the hatch II rmly down against the gasket 20. The U-shaped bolts 22 consist of two arms 24 interconnected by a bridge portion 25 and by the bars 23. The arms 24 are parallel to one another and pass through guide slots 2B in parallel blocks 21 secured to base plates 28 which in turn are secured as at 28a (Figure 3) to the underside of the hatch II. The slots 25 are closed by cover plates 29 secured to the blocks 21 by the fasteners 30. In this manner, the arms 24 of the U-shaped bolts 22 are accurately guided in their reciprocation, and they are maintained in parallelism by the bars 23 and bridge portions 25. The bridge portion25 of each bolt I2 is provided with a central enlargement 3I` (Figure 3) from which a lug or boss 32 extends inwardly. Aligned with the boss 32 is a corresponding boss 33 on an abut- `ment 34 which rises from the base plate 28. En-

circling the bosses 32 and 33 and abutting the enlargement 3| and abutment 32 is a comprescentral arm 42 of which carries a pendulumweight 43 for swinging the lever 4I to and frov in response to the action of gravity. The.` o pposite ends'of the cross arm 44 of the T-lever 4I are bored as at 45 to receive headed pivot'pins4t` on which rollers 41 are rotatably. mounted.(Figur e 2). The rollers 41 (Figure 1) engage the centers of the bridge portions of the U-shaped lolol'tsr 22 so as to prevent the bolts 22 from being urged Yint'uxtheirrunlatched positions bythe compression springsy 35. InY order to prevent the pendulum Weight 43 anddeverA 4I- fromswinging toand fro under the iniiuence ofordinary joltsv arising during: ordinary-travel,- a yieldable detent is-provided consisting oft a bracketl or; keeper 48'hav-ing:v arms 49,'secured as atVv 5U.- to the underside of the hatch I I and-having'a bridge .portion-5I with apro'- tuberance 52 formed on the inner side thereof and yieldingly'engageable with the corresponding depression 53 in the pendulumweight 43.

The modication; generally designatedl 60, show-n.- in Figure llyissimilar inall respects-to the form',show-n'-inf-Figures` l to 3 inclusive except in the. manner of preventing operation in response to1 ordinary joltsinV everyday travel. In Figure 4, the. bridge portions 25- of the bolts 22 areprovidedat'thein centers with-notches 6I into which the: rollersr 411=yieldingly project. Ordinary jolts arefthus insuiicient to force thel rollers 4'I out-of the notches 6.I, hence the T-lever 4I"A with its pendulum Weight 42 is incapable of swingingin response: to ordinary road shocks; but will only operate inthe eventof a major shock, like an overturn. It'y will be obviousthat in place of the.-

two: compression springs a single` tension spring-may be connected between said bolts 22 to urge themtoward one another'.V

Inzthe operation of'eitherform of the` inven- 'tionythe hatch II' is installed with the central arm 42 of the T-lever 4I extending lenghtwise of the vehicle, and with the bolts 22 arranged'crosswise of the vehicle roof. So long'as the vehicle is moving in its normal manner, the hatch I I remains securely closed, With the T-lever 4I? yieldably held in its lockingk position either bythe detent-52', 53 of FiguresY 1 to Sinclusive, or by the notches 6I of vFigure 4.

If, however, a highway accident occurs; andiin consequence of this, the busor other vehicle-turns.

over on its side, the hatch: I I'becomes repositioned inA a vertical plane with the vertical direction-coinciding with the line 2:-2 in Figure 1. In other Words, it is as if the; drawing* were viewed from one of the other. ofy itsY long sides. When this occurs, the pendulum arm 42 is thrown into a horizontal position witha severe jolt which is sufficientV to detach the pendulum weight4-3-'irom its detent 52 (Figures 1 and 3) or to `oltv the rollers 4'I out of the notches 6I (Figure 4). In either case, the pendulumweightwill` swing untilrtheVV cross arm-44v is at an oblique angleto-the `line 2 2, permitting the bolts 22 to be moved toward one another, witlridravvingY their-latch: bars `Z13-.from the recesses; I8; When thisoceurs, thee:

fio

4 hatch I I, which is thus unlocked, either ies open of its own accord by the shock of the accident, or may be easily pushed open by a passenger within the bus or pulled open by someone outside. In the latter case, the hatch I I may be pulled open by placing the ngers beneath the lip or flange 2l or by inserting a prying instrument between the flange 2| and the top I0. The passengers `whomiglit otherwisebe entrapped Within the bus, maythen escape through theopening I3 to safety.

What I claim is:

1..A. self-releasing locking device for releasablyl'ocking a vehicle roof escape hatch member to a roof member, said locking device comprisingazlatch bolt slidably mounted on the other of said members,4 a yielding element urging said latch bolt toward its unlatching position,and a. vvei'gliteol-` pendulum lever pivotally mounted on said other` member anolreleasably engaging said latch. bolt, said-pendulum lever being of. angle form.rwith-the outer endof one-arm engaging said latch bolt and with the outer endA of. the other. arm. carrying. thependulum weight.

2: AVv self-releasing, locking device for` releasably. locking a. vehicleroof. escape hatchr structure to a pairofv keepers onvv opposite sides of an escape opening-in a roofstructure, said, locking devicecomprising a pair ofV latch boltsY slidably mounted rori-.the other of. saidstructures andmov.- able inoppositel directions into engagementwth said. keepers, a yielding element engaging said latch.. bolts and.y urgingv said latch bolts tow-ard one another awayr from-latching, engagement with said. keepers,` andA a, weighted:V pendulum lever pivotally. mounted.v on said other structure and releasably engaging said latch bolts infrecly-separable-abutting. engagement.

3. Itself-releasingg locking device for releasably. locking alvehioleroof escape hatch struc- .turetoa pair of keepers on opposite sides of,v an

escapek opening in a. roof. structure, said locking device comprising, a pairof latch boltsslidably mountedon the otherof said structures and movable .in opposite directions into engagement .with said. keepers, a. yielding element engagingL said latch.boltsand-urging` said latch bolts toward one another away. from latching engagement with said-keepers, anda weighted. pendulum ylever pivotally mounted. on said. other structure and. releasably engaging said latch. bolts, said pendulumlever being of.l T-shaped form with.. the outer. end of its cross arm engaging said latch bolts.. and with the outer end vor its other arm carrying Vthe pendulum weight.

4. A self-releasing locking device for releasably locking-aV vehicleroof escape hatch structure to a pair of keepers on opposite sides of` an escape openinginva roof` structure, said locking device comprising a pair of latchLbolts slidably-mounted on. the othervr of said structures and movable-in opposite;- directions into. engagement with said keepers, ar yieldingV element. engaging said latch bolts and urgingf said latchbolts towardy one, another away from latching; engagement with said keepers., a. weighted pendulum. lever. pivotally mounted on-said other structure and releasably engaging1 said latch bolts, said pendulum lever being of- T-shaped form with the outer endof its cross arm engaging saidlatch bolts and withthe L outer end. of. itsother arm carrying the pendulum; weight, and a detent releasably engaging said pendulum lever.

5. A self-releasing locking,devicer for releasably^ locking a. vehicle. roof `escape hatchstructure to a pair of keepers on opposite sides of an escape opening in a roof structure, said locking device comprising a pair of latch bolts slidably mounted on the other of said structures and movable in opposite directions into engagement with said keepers, a yielding element engaging said latch bolts and urging said latch bolts toward one another away from latching engagement with said keepers, a weighted pendulum lever pivotally mounted on said other structure and releasably engaging said latch bolts, said pendulum lever being of T-shaped form with the outer end of its cross arm engaging said latch bolts and with the outer end of its other arm carrying the pendulum Weight, and a detent releasably engaging said pendulum lever at the opposite ends of said cross arm.

6. A self-releasing locking device for releasably locking a vehicle roof escape hatch structure to a pair of keepers on opposite sides of an escape opening in a roof structure, said locking device comprising a pair of latch bolts sldably mounted on the other of said structures and movable in opposite directions into engagement with said keepers, a yielding element engaging said latch bolts and urging said latch bolts toward one an- 6 other away from latching engagement with said keepers, a Weighted pendulum lever pivotally mounted on said other structure, and releasably engaging said latch bolts, said pendulum lever being of T-shaped form With the outer end of its cross arm engaging said latch bolts and with the outer end of its other arm carrying the pendulum Weight, and a detent releasably engaging said pendulum lever at the end of the pendulum weight arm of said lever.

ROBERT KERR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 912,211 Voight Feb. 9, 1909 2,339,315 Kerr Nov. 20, 1945 2,481,429 Kerr Sept. 6, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 24,033 Great Britain Nov. 5, 1903 

